Millinery: Virtual Kentucky Derby Day hat party begins!

Kate Pernia posted her KDD hat already:



And as bonus material, she added this link to a famous designer's spring collection video, featuring hats, hats and more hats. Yeah RL!


I've noticed that there was a KDD hat swap going on in blogdom yesterday. I'd post a link, but since they were all "fanciful" creations made of cardboard and whatnot, more for decoration than actual wearing, I'll leave it to you to search out if you wish. Poor girls, all that work, when they could have been making a real hat instead.

LauraRN is under the weather today, but she posted a hat picture as well...un-traditional KDD as it may be.

Mimi headed to the derby while Mad Hatter Wanna Be Cristina was out of town. She wore a great hat, and a super flirtation smile. I think we are going to have to keep an eye on Mimi; while she is technically supposed to just make herself available to model Cristina's millinery creations, I have a feeling Mimi has a colorful life planned out and will be willing to share her hatted adventures.

Maureen at Tea and Friendship posed with not only a derby hat but her silver mint julep cup as well. (It is all about accessorizing, isn't it?)

By the by...for you out there who are serious about you hatmaking (you know who you are...):

Derby Hat Contest
(May 4, 2008-May 30, 2008)
Each year, the Kentucky Derby Museum invites participants from around the world to enter their beautiful and unique Derby hats in our annual contest. A panel of judges and guests then rates the hats, with the top twenty to thirty being selected for the 2008 Kentucky Derby Museum’s Derby Hat Exhibit. We are in search of all types of hats, designer and novelty in either men or ladies’ styles. Each winner will receive a certificate of participation in the exhibit along with passes to visit the exhibit during the year.
Would you like to be a part of this exhibit showcasing one of the most celebrated and exciting Derby traditions? All hat styles are needed and creativity is encouraged.

Entries for the Hat Contest will be accepted from Sunday, May 4th until Friday, May 30th. Hats must be delivered (personally or via mail) to the Kentucky Derby Museum between the hours of 8am-5pm Monday through Saturday and 11 to 5pm Sunday. All entries must arrive in a normal shipping box or hatbox and should be accompanied by a completed entry form. Check the website closer to May for printable entry forms.

The form can be downloaded from this link.

Min wore a turban for the VKDD!

The hats worn to the Houston Hat Net KDD party:

(See? Another turban. Turbans are cool!)

Loved that soft chiffon turban.

A Kate Pernia design...

Loved this colorful brimmed beauty!

Special guest appearance: Sue's newest hippo car. Her purple hippo car has been a regular attendee of Houston Hat Net events; she has now added a red version to her hippo car collection.

This one has upgrades: It whistles, winks both eyes, and I think the ears flap too.

Hippo-bottom-mous.

Sue told me the name of her new red hippo, but I can't remember it now. Drat.

She also said people have been very puzzled by this hippocar.

"Hippos aren't red" she has been getting told.

Like they were ever PURPLE either, like her other car???
More pictures as they become available...

Millinery: Off to the races!

So, are you flirting with the idea of putting on a hat and watching at least a bit of the Kentucky Derby on television today?

Imagine how you would have felt if someone had invited you to actually GO to the Derby; asked you months ago, and you knew you HAD to get a hat, even if you never normally wear a hat.

A reported for the Seattle was faced with that challenge. She wrote about her journey to find a hat; an idea at odds with her "stubbornly practical Northwest" mindset.

She had to get two hats in the end, a yellow and and pink, one for each day of parties that she would be attending.


Oh boy, did she ever find the perfect hat! Two hats actually, and she wrote about her experience shopping in Seattle at a millinery shop owned by a former Texan.

You can read her article about her experiences and see her other hat selection here.


The newspapers already have started with Kentucky Derby 2008 hat pictures....the above picture was taken on Friday as a spectator watched a training session.

Models being photographed around the horses. The yellow striped one: I saw something similar to this one in the Galleria. The designer had created it, dye matched, to go with a dress.

Sigh.
I love this fresh looking draped chapeau. I'm wondering if the draping is crinoline or organdy. So sheer, like so much of the current fashion's fabrics.

More hats as they are seen....

Millinery: Don't forget: Virtual Kentucky Derby Day tomorrow

Hey all...tomorrow is the big day for hat lovers: The Kentucky Derby!
We're all going to have a Virtual Kentucky Derby Day party on our blogs, remember?

Even Hillary Clinton has gotten into the hat wearing act.

You can see her modeling her KDD hat in the video at the end of this article.

And you can learn a bit about the milliner who made the hat here.

(If HC wins the election, can we all send her tips on hat wearing and selection? Especially for hat selection for state funerals abroad? Love ya Laura Bush, but that black hat your wore to that one funeral just made me hang my head in national millinery shame...)

Ladies: Don you biggest and best hats tomorrow, tune into the TV in time to sing "My Old Kentucky Home" and cheer your horse to victory. Take a picture of yourself in your hat (and your friends too...) and post a picture on your blog. Let me know, and I'll add a link to your post.

It'll be a Virtual Kentucky Derby Day party!

Laura and I will be attending the Houston Hat Nets Kentucky Derby party tomorrow. We'll be having a good time...and hope you will be too.
Can't wait to see your hat pictures.
I'm sure they will all look like winners.

The International Traveler Returns

I get lots of opportunities to pick up family and friends from the Houston Bush Airport. But Tuesday was a little different. I got to pick someone up at the International Terminal D.
While I waited for my passenger to arrive I took advantage of the opportunity to look around.

Each terminal has unique and interesting art; I could just as easily enjoy going to the airport to see art as I do going to a regular art museum.
Don't these columns look like they are constructed of lampwork glass beads?

The other terminals usually have a few drivers waiting with signs spelling out the name of their expected passenger. This terminal had a long line of drivers waiting; this was only about half of the line up.

I was surprised to see a map on the wall of all of Houston's "Sister" cities.

I had never heard of a lot of the other cities; I guess we aren't that close of a family...

The best sight in the terminal....

She looked so different, yet she had only been gone a week.

She had changed to "Swedish style", meaning put your hair up in a braid on one side, and mess up the rest, then throw on a big chunky scarf and no make up.

I loved all the fun stuff that she bought. The Scandinavian colors and designs are so refreshing.

It make me want to chuck all our French Country furniture and simplify!

She bought the apron, the tray, the pot holder, the towel.....

And lots of tops. That shade of red and that shade of blue: yum.
I look at those colors and feel like life is fun and young again.
(Probably because the last time I had a lot of those colors in my life I was in college; the early 1970's was big on Scandinavian design and that rustic simple look.)

Now I am seeing that color everywhere! Along the main road in Kingwood these flowers are blooming.

I pulled over to take a picture (OK...several pictures...) and it was so much fun to have Laura walk up to me as I was shooting pictures.

She was running errands in one direction and I was running different errands in a different direction.

Along the main drive in Kingwood she saw me and stopped.

I think that was the first time I have ever really felt truly at home in Kingwood.

There is just something about running into someone you know when you are out and about to make you feel like you belong.

Right now I just want to pack up and head out and travel with her. Her pictures of Sweden were beautiful; she'll be posting them on her blog: It's Good to Be Me, which you can find on my sidebar links.

She takes such great pictures; it is the next best thing to traveling to Sweden with her.

I might just let her braid up my hair as well, just to get the full effect.

"To Feed a Mockingbird"

Bernie and I have been watching the mockingbird nesting activities from our breakfast room window. The chee chee chee sounds of the baby birds is a sure tip off that either Mom or Dad Mocker is about to deliver another tasty morsel to the growing chicks.

I watched the parents swooping in and out of the tree for awhile; it made me exhausted just watching them. The poor little birds...flying in with a tiny green bug, or grey worm, then heading back out to hunt again.

I decided to help out. The local pet shop sold me two dozen meal worms for $2.18. That seemed like a reasonable amount for such generously proportioned worms. As always, I took a moment to consider how to make the meal look as attractive as possible. Meal presentation always adds to the enjoyment of the dinner, don't you think?



A rustic hand throw pottery pedestal struck me as just the perfect backdrop for a mockingbird dinner.

I placed it under the tree, got a chair set up in the garage and waited to see what would happen.
Nothing happened.
The birds took one quick look, and went back to hunting afar.

Bernie peeked out and suggested that I place the worms in a more shallow dish.
My "Herbs and Spices" pattern ought to do. Low edge, and a nice wild foliage print.

The mockingbirds continued to fly in and out with various insects to feed their young.

Maybe the mocks would rather the bowl be in the backyard. I placed the bowl on the patio table. A squirrel dropped by to check it out.

Apparently a vegetarian, the worms remained untasted.

I thought squirrels ate grubs. Guess not.

Bernie popped out again to suggest putting a shoe box lid under the nest and putting the worms in that.

I had already invested about an hour of my time at this point, so whatever

A shoebox lid.

Go figure.

The mocker grabbed a big ol' worm, and ran with it to the edge of the driveway to start knocking it on the ground. Bernie was impressed. "She's making sure it is dead. Those worms are big enough they could harm the chicks if they are still alive."

I don't know if that is true, but the bird really was pretty brutal to the worm.



Bernie had placed two worms in the box. After the first two were served up to the chicks, he added four more. They were likewise dispatched in quick order.

A pointed look let us know that more worms were now expected to be served.

Bernie moved the Herbs and Spices dish off the patio table and on to our garden bench. The birds discovered it there and in no time at all, all twenty four meal worms had been consumed.

This morning instead of us watching the mockingbirds, the mockingbird was watching us.
Hart and Mocker were having a stare down too.

The bird wasn't going to give an inch.



We ate our cereal and drank our coffee to a steady scolding Cheet-cheet-cheet.

This is going to be have to be a fast post.

I've got to head out to the pet shop; I've gotta get some more worms.
I've created a monster.
Oh boy, a mockingbird with a two dollar a day mealyworm habit.
I wonder how long until the chicks leave the nest.

(Interestingly, we never saw the birds eat a worm. They consistently flew off with the worm to deliver them to the nest.)

California Poppy Fields of long ago

The California poppy blooming in my garden right now.

And my older brother Carl and I as children sitting in a field full of the golden poppies and purple Owl's Clover.
I never saw fields like this ever again.